When we think of military terms like Special Ops, and we’re not playing Call of Duty or Battlefield 3 or other games, the first thing to come to mind is the recent take down of Osama bin Laden by SEAL Team 6; who also were responsible for the rescue of an American citizen being held in Somalia.
They are after all what epitomizes the greatest of the US military but it turns out that they are just a part of a larger organization within the military called the Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC. Also within that group is the equally famous Delta Force and apparently other units of greater size which are covered by even greater secrecy.
As important as their roles may have been in getting bin Laden or rescuing Americans from Somali pirates they have an even more important role according to Marc Ambinder and D. B. Grady, authors of a new book called “The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army.”
Yup, you read that right. It would seem that the President has his own private army and when they are not out hunting international terrorist bad guys and rescuing citizens from dangerous locales their prime job it to protect the continuity of civilian government in the event of a coup.
“JSOC is also a key part of the classified contingency plans to preserve the U.S. civilian government in the event of a coup from the military or anyone else.”
“When the president travels overseas, a JSOC team usually shadows him. Its members are trained to take charge should the mammoth security structure of the U.S. Secret Service break down.”
via BuzzFeed